Machine for preparing uppers for lasting



JQw. PRATT ETAL MACHINE FOR PREPARING UPPERS FOR LASTING Aug. 19, 1952'2 SHEETS-Sl-IEET 1 Filed Dec. 20, 1949 Inventors John W Frail! Erpesl HJimms 19, 5 J. w. PRATT ET AL 2,607,419 MACHINE FOR PREPARING UPPERS FORLASTING Filed Dec. 20, 1949 2-SHEETS-'SHEET z V Inventors,

John. W Haff '2 Ernesi'h? Simms Patented Aug. 19, 1952 John WilliamPratt.- and Ernest, Harry-r Simms'." Leicester; Eng-land; assigncrstoUnited Slice Machinery Cbrporation, Flemingttm, N; (li a-1 corpcrationotNew Jersey A'pplicationllecember 20, 19.49, S'erialiNh; 13 1,1070

InGr-eat'Britain January I'm 19,49-

This: invention relates to machines for use in the manufacture" of"shoes to prepare the uppers for the lasting operation, and" moreparticularly to machines" for forming slitsin' the margin" of eachupper, e; g; around. its toe-endportion; to facilitate thefproperlasting'of itsfmargin inwardly over an insole on a last. Such: a"machine is shownv in United; States Letters Eatenti No. 2',523, i80','granted on September 26,1950, on an application; of" J W." Pratt; Animmediate object of theinvention is to improve the operation of themachine therein shown on some kinds of upper; materials, and theinvention, isitherefore herein shown as applied to that machinahut, itwill be understood that itis-not thus limitedin its applicability.

The above-mentioned machineis ,provid'edfwith an upper-slittingknifemounted. for, reciprocatory movements abouta n axis, andwith ashear block having a shearing edge with which the knife cooperates toformthe slitsin, the upper. The shear block has" therein, an,upper-guidmg slot in inclined rel tion to. the. path. of; movement of"the knife, so thatjthejknife cuts obliquely through the; margin.ofthegupper from Oneside thereof to the other side, In proper time.relationitoithe operative movements ofithe knifelthe upper" is'fedintermittently in. a dir.e.ction. lengthwise of its edge by rotaryfeeding .jmeans engage ing portions thereofwhich have. already beenoperated. upon by the knife thearrangement being such thatjthehuppei' isthus .jfedjin thesame general; directionin which thaknife moves informingtheslits;

The'construction abovadescrihedhasbeenused withiconsistentl'ygoodresults, inoperating on up.- pers of comparatively thickorstifffimateriah In operating, however. on uppers of comparatively thinor pliable materialiitxhas been found. that, because of a tendency of"the. knife to. displace the upper in the direction in whichitisfed; thekniie'may sometimespfailito makeaclean cut all the way throughtheuppe'r; The present invention-providesa construction which; bybetterconrtrolof the upper material at thetime wheneachupper-slittingoperation takes place, prevents any such faulty. actionofthe-knife. In the construction shown the desired result isaccomplished by intermittently clampingjand"releasing the margin of-itheupper, theupper b'eing thus clamped after each feeding-movement prior tothe .action' ofv the knife thereon. More particularly, as. herein shown,the*shear:block ismadein two. parts which are*separated by; theabove-mentionedupper-g-uidi-ng slot and one of which is moved to-5Gl'aims: (entice-50 -v ward the other to clampv and hold the 1 portion:of

the margin of the upper-1m the sloti'immediately prior to each upper-slitting o cieratibrr;v Since the is held-securelyagainstdisplacementiby theknife when th'knife acts thereon'i I Furthertoinsure proper cooperation between' the knife and the shearblock; means:isproviiiaajibp preventing any springing of the knife away fromtheshe'ar block; this meansfin theponstmctiomshownicom prising" arollarranged te -support; the knifein a location under theshear block:

The-novel features: of theinvention incl'uding various novel details ofconstruction. andcombinations of'parts. will now b'e more particularlydescribed with" reference toi -the accompanying drawings and thereafterpointed out? in the claims.

In thedrawingfii V V i f Fig. 1 is a perspective-viewer a portion 'o'fthe machine to which the-invention isvherein shown as applied,the*parts=being shown in their-"initial positions; Y

Fig; 2" is a vieW=partlyirr2front elevation and partly in section ofaiportion ofthestructure shown" in Fig, 1*, with theparts' iii"the'positions which they occupy Wherrthe.upper slittinghnife is atthe-end ofiits operative movement;

Fig. 3 is aplanaview showing? in: a; flat condition the'toe-endjportionv ofarrupper after it. has been operated" upon by"'thei machine;:and

Fig. 4 isa:planviewofipartsfshown in Fig: l; Except as modified forpurposes; of the pres;- ent invention the machinemay be assumed to be ofsubstantially" thesame: construction-Mas shown and describedin detailimthe previously mentioned'Letters Patent: I Itincludes acircul arwork-supporting'table Z'mounted to rotate-"about a vertical axis and afeed wheel "4 arranged 'tocooperate with" the table to. clamp" themargin of the toe-end portiorrof the upper when the table a" verticalstud 12' and to? which. reciprocatory,

movements areimpartedihy meansphowrrrinsaid LettersPatentr The lt'niieis arrangedtc coopem ate with a shear block 14 having an upper part 16and a lower part I8 which are spaced apart to provide between them anupper-guiding slot edge of the knife is moved. The upper is furtherpositioned in proper relation to the knife by an adjustable edge gage 24at the rear of the tablei2 and another adjustable edge gage 26 on theshear block. In the construction shown aportion ofthe Y v v shear blockupwardly to clamp the upper against the upper part I6 just before thecutting edge of edge gage 25 extends into the upper guiding slot' 20,the lower part l8 of the shear block having.

therein a groove2'l to provide clearance for the;

gage. It will be evident that, except at the very,

beginning of the operation of the machine,'the

table 2 and the feed wheel 4 feed the upper by engagin portions of itsmargin already operated upon by the knife 6 and .Qthat in slitting theupper the knife moves in the same general direction in whichtheupperisfed; f

1 I For purposesrof thi s invention the upper part .16, of' the, Shearbrflok lviisgsecured firmly to the ea c n 28,;of; he..ma h ne=b a s iflbetween which-andthe part Iii-is a'spacing member; 32.;, Thelower part IB ofthe shear block, moreove s s curedtoa a 3'4v w ic extends upwardlyatthe rear of the shearblock and is pivotally -mounted near its lowerend on a horizontal pin 3 6-;f as t in a small-block 38 welded to theupper part [B of the shear block. Connected to the upper end of :the arm34 is a spring 40 which, byits action on the arm, tends to swingthelower part i8, of the ,shearblock upwardly toward the upper part [6.Cooperating with the spring to control the lower part of the shear blockis a cam- 42 whichis secured to the sleeve and therefore swings with theknife-carrying arm 8, the cam engaging a roll 44 mounted on a lug 46 onthearm 34. The shape of the cam 42 is such that when theknife .6 is inits. retracted position the lower part I8 of the shear block in suchrelation to the upper part l6 that the margin ofthe upper. is looselypositioned in the slot 28.

When-theknife, receives its operative movement,

however, the earn 42Iby its movementcauses the s n is swin th we part tsh a block pwardly n il the I gli o th er in the wesa p di mswe n th tPa ts zil esh e eb 2;- Th s Clamping action takes .izla ebe q e t e e e9f "th knife a t a s newe an i e th r n the upper' thusclamped is theportion which is yet to be fed into' thepath' of movement of the knife,the upper is held seurely against any tendency of the knife todisplaceit in the direction of its feeding movement, Further to guardagainst any failure lof the knife to make a clean cut througl'i'theilupp'er it is "prevented from springing downwardly away from theshear block by a roll 48 engaging it in a location underthe shear blockand mounted on a member 50 fast on the head casting 28.

In the use of the machine constructed as described on the toe-endportion of a leather upper, the operator presents the toe end of theupper grain side uppermost over. the table 2 with a portion of itsmargin in the upper-guiding slot in the shear block [li and with itsedge in engage ment withthe two edge gages Hand 26 which will have beenpreviously adjusted to determine the depth of the-slitsin the upper andthe directions which, theylwill extend inwardly from eses:en inee -1 .1u per i th m.-

eration of the machine. Upon the starting of the 'machine the knife 6 isswung in its arcuate path toward the shearing edge 22 of the sheerblock, the cam 42 swinging with the knife and causing the spring 40 toswing the lower part l8 of the the knifeengages the upper. Such clampingof the upper counteracts any tendency of the knife 7 to displace it inthe direction of its feeding movement. Further insurance that the knifewill make a clean cut through the upper is afforded by the supportingengagement of the roll 48 with the knife under the shear. block. As theknife is thereafter retracted toits initial position the cam 42 swingsthe lower part of the shear block down- War'dly torelieve the clampingpressure on. the u per..and" thus to'facilitate the next feedingmovement 'imp-artedthereto by rotation of the feed wheel 4 and'the table2. Upon the completiOnIOf this feeding movement the upper-slittinmovement of the knife and therclamping action of the sliearblock'ontheupper are repeated, the operations described'continuing until theoperator releases the treadle.. 1 The toe endof the upper, after havingbeen thusoperated upon, appears as shown in Fig.7 3. The slits formed bythe knife 6 extend obliquely through the marg'in'of the upper andterminate on the grain and flesh sides of the upper, respectively, inthelines wand b. '1 I c Having described the invention, what, we claimas new and desire to secure by'Letters Patent of the United States is: af v 1. A machinefor forming slits in the marginof an upper having, incombination, meansjfor feeding the upper. intermittently" in a directionlengthwise of its. edge by'engagement with its margin, an"upper-slitting knife," means "for imparting to saidknife reciproc'atorymovements/m *timerelation't'o the" feeding of the upper to form -slitsin portions of the margin. of the upper there;

parts to 'clamplthe margin of the upper after each feeding movementpreparatory to; the upperslitting operation and. thereafter to. release.it to facilitate the next feeding movement-thereof.

2; A machine for forming slits in the margin of an upperha'ving, incombination, means for feeding the'up'per intermittently in a directionlengthwise of f its edge, an'upper-slitting-knife, means for impartingto said knife reciprocatory movementsiin'time relation 'to the feeding;of;the upperxto form slits in the rn'argin'of theuppem shear blockarranged to cooperate with'said knife to form the'slits, said shearblock comprising a fixed part and a movable part arranged'to providebetween themjan upper-guiding slot inclined to the path ,of niovementofthel knife, and means including c m movablelinltiine Manon 'idthe knifeto cause ;said movabl part to. seni e. fthe margin of the upper againstthe fixed part after each feeding movement preparatory to theupperslitting operation and thereafter to release it to facilitate thenext feeding movement thereof.

3. A machine for forming slits in the margin of an upper having, incombination, means for feeding the upper intermittently in a directionlengthwise of its edge, an upper-slitting knife, means for imparting tosaid knife reciprocatory movements in time relation to the feeding ofthe upper to form slits in the margin of the upper, a shear blockarranged to cooperate with said knife to form the slits, said shearblock comprising a fixed part and a movable part arranged to providebetween them an upper-guiding slot inclined to the path of movement ofthe knife, a spring tending to move said movable part toward the fixedpart to clamp the margin of the upper, and means for holding saidmovable part in position to permit free movement of the upper along saidslot in each upper-feeding operation and for releasing it to the actionof the spring to cause it to clamp the upper in each upper-slittingopera tion.

4. A machine for forming slits in the margin of an upper having, incombination, means for feeding the upper intermittently in a directionlengthwise of its edge, an upper-slitting knife, means for imparting tosaid knife reciprocatory movements in time relation to the feeding ofthe upper to form slits in the margin of the upper, a shear blockmounted adjacent to the path of movement of the knife and arranged tocooperate with the knife to form the slits, said shear block having anupper-guiding slot inclined to the path of movement of the knife, andmeans for engaging said knife on the opposite side thereof from theshear block in a location opposite to the shear block to prevent it fromspringing away from the shear block in the upper-slitting operation.

5. A machine for forming slits in the margin of an upper having, incombination, means for feeding the upper intermittently in a directionlengthwise of its edge, an upper-slitting knife, means for imparting tosaid knife reciprocatory movements in time relation to the feeding ofthe upper to form slits in the margin of the upper, a shear blockmounted adjacent to the path of movement of the knife and arranged tocooperate with the knife to form the slits, said shear block having anupper-guiding slot inclined to the path of movement of the knife, and aroll for engaging said knife on the opposite side thereof from the shearblock to prevent the knife from springing away from the shear block inthe upper-slitting operation.

JOHN WILLIAM PRATT. ERNEST HARRY SIMMS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 685,991 Knipe Nov. 5, 1901728,532 Arnold May 19, 1903 855,753 Brewer June 4, 1907. 970,702 GodduSept. 20, 1910

